Happily Ever After
by liahime
Summary: Not all fairytales are perfect.. Not everyone ends up with true love and a new, sparkling life for eternity. There's always that one person, left behind when the magic coach drives off.. InoShika oneshot


_And they lived happily ever after... by liahime_

Diclaimer: My first Naruto fanfic, and very (_very_) likely, badly written.. but I wanted to try it! anyways.. I don't own Naruto!

Ino Yamanaka was happy.

She had a handsome boyfriend, who bought her chocolates daily and took her out to eat the best crab in the world. He was a jounin, never lazy, always enthusiastic about everything. Mildly popular, and though not a thing like Sasuke, he was cute enough to have a few jealous fan girls still in love with him. He sent her roses at random intervals weekly, and made her laugh until she cried.

He managed to choke down the lunches she packed him, and said that they were delicious. He was completely devoted to her- he still sent her love letters in the mail. The boy practically worshiped the ground she walked on. He had even walked to her house one starry and freezing winter night, and serenaded her until her father had thrown her grandmother's second-best vase at him.

The chocolates were divine. The crab was heavenly. Her boyfriend was wonderful.

Ino had every obligation to be happy.

She was happy enough to not scream when Naruto practically ran over her, trying not to be late for his daily lunch at the Ichiraku.

She didn't flinch very noticeably when Shino's pet spiders landed on her hair. The spider was still in one piece when he got it back, and Shino had even been forgiven... eventually.

Who could say that she wasn't in a state of eternal bliss and happiness? She had congratulated big-forehead-Sakura and Sasuke on their first month anniversary as a couple yesterday. Instead of going to drown her sorrows in chocolate ice cream and soap operas, she had smiled and genuinely been happy for them. She hadn't even told Sasuke's big-forehead girlfriend that she, Ino Yamanaka, would have been a much better match - it hadn't even crossed her mind.

Yes, Ino didn't deserve to be sad, with all that had been given to her. Love. A devoted, loving boyfriend. Family. Friends. Her name was rising in the halls of ninja fame and skill. Her family's business was booming. The most heavenly crab in the world was a phone call away.

So it made sense that she felt guilt whenever she saw her laid back teammate walk into the Ichiraku, walking past her, holding the hand of a certain Sand kunoichi, and her heart broke in two, wishing so hard to be someone else, in another life.

Ino had fallen, and she knew it. Here she was, obsessing over a taken jounin when she had her own man at her side. So though her inner consciousness nagged her every time she let her attention travel from her boyfriend's face to the lazy eyes of Shikamaru, she continued to wish for something more.

It's greed. she told herself. _Don't be greedy, Ino. You didn't want him then, he doesn't want you now. Don't steal him from Temari. Be happy for them. _Ino forced a smile onto her face and bit her lip to stay silent. It was over. What happened happened. There was no way to change the past, she told herself. Ino forced a smile onto her face and bit her lip to stay silent. It was over. What happened happened. There was no way to change the past.

It was pointless. Seconds after she had managed to push the jounin out of her mind into some far-off corner, Ino imagined throwing one of the nice sharp chopsticks she was holding into his girlfriend's forehead.

It was hard to banish someone who had been so close, who had been so near to her that without notice- he became her.He had become her reassuring common sense and conscience, in her head reassuring her during every mission when spiders crawled over her frozen hands, her trampoline when she jumped out of the burning buildings of her "fail-proof" plans to reach Sasuke's heart. He had become her human security blanket, disintegrating her fears with a single word. She'd been able to fall back and be caught, no matter how far she fell.

Perhaps she was just a horrible person at her core. She had launched herself head first into the game of love and dating the day after Temari and Shikamaru's status was official, settling for the first adequate boy there was. There was no point in trying to get Shikaramu back from the Sand kunoichi by his side. Ino could lie to herself, but her eyes- her eyes couldn't. She couldn't ignore the loving looks Temari gave him, the perfect lunches he was so happily eating... Looking down at the burnt lunch _her _boyfriend was eating, there was no contest- Temari would win.

Ino was now _convinced_ that she was a completely rotten person.

After all, it was a wonderful life.

Terrificboyfriend. She liked him tons.

There was just one thing wrong with him- the tiniest, most unchangeable thing that made all the difference. She hadn't known it had mattered until it was too late to change it. Perfect as the boy was-

He just wasn't Shikamaru.

-  
yeah.. I know! stupid naruto oneshot.. that I _should _have edited.. but I didn't! (lazy...) I wanted to try writing Naruto stuff though...

**yup.. thank you for putting up with me and my whims.. **

-liahime


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